TexasCHLforum.com

Liberty wrote:

cbunt1 wrote:No sense in getting a license plate that says "expensive and exotic radios installed in this truck, please steal them." :)

Its that big ole antenna, that will give you away every time.

There is, of course, that!

And it doesn't help that antennas, much like holsters, have a tendency to propagate on their own when left unattended. It's not that one big antenna, it's the three on the roof, one on each mirror, and the big ole 6M attached to the gooseneck hitch....

After all those years of not going forward because I couldn't get past the code, I finally spent some time studying the practice tests and went down and tested.

I managed to go from "Zero to Extra" in one sitting. On one hand I'm proud of the accomplishment, but on another I almost feel like I cheated the system. I guess it's because for so many years the code was considered a rite of passage, and I remember the backlash when the first "no code tech" licenses were issued.

At any rate, strangely enough I find myself compelled to learn the code, and now that I'm doing it because I "want" to instead of feeling pushed into it, it's coming along...

But back to the point -- the flash-card and practice testing systems (especially hamstudy.org for me) work. And the examiners are there to help you get licensed, not to serve as a barrier to entry.

And back to the original topic -- I don't have much issue putting a callsign here since so much of what I say and do as an instructor is either public, or references something I do "for real" -- but I won't be putting it on my license plate or plastering it on the windows of my truck anymore than I put NRA and IDPA stickers on my truck, and for the same reasons. No sense in getting a license plate that says "expensive and exotic radios installed in this truck, please steal them." :)

I've chased the idea around since the mid '80s, and I always had problems with deciphering the code. I can (well, could, I've forgotten a BUNCH of the letters now) send just fine, but my ears just can't discern the dots from the dashes, even at 5 WPM.

So I studied the theory side and never bothered to go forward. Even once the "no-code" tickets started, I didn't go through with it, because for some reason I was always interested in 10-meter, and you had to code to play on 10-meter.

But now that everything's "no code" (I just learned this earlier this week) it looks like I'm pretty much good-to-go for a Tech test, and I'm working through the General questions now. I aim to take both at the same time.

Then I'll go for the Extra, but I'll have to spend some time studying to get there.

Interesting (and thrilling) to see so many currently working on the same stuff -- I hadn't paid it any attention in years, but it was always something I wanted to finish. Now's the time!